Customer Satisfaction Survey
Service Point Survey 2014
Rural and Small Service Points
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1. Introduction
Customer surveys are an important method of judging customer satisfaction with the service
provided. This is just one of a number of methods used to measure customer satisfaction in
Service Points. These surveys are conducted on a regular basis and they provide a snapshot of
customer satisfaction at a particular time.
As Customer Service provides a full range of services to a wide group of customers, other
surveys are conducted in cooperation with other services to ensure the service the customers
receive meets their expectations. This supports other surveys focusing on Housing, PeoplesHub
and Registration which have been conducted in the last 12 months.
2. Methodology
The method used for this particular survey is a questionnaire which customer have been asked
to complete while visiting the Service point. This is a simple method and requires little time on
the part of the customer to complete the survey. Although this assists the customer it restricts
the amount of detail on the survey form as a longer survey form with more questions may deter
a customer from completing the form. (The Council Annual Performance Survey which is
completed by the Councils Citizens Panel, includes questions relating to the service customers
receive at Service Points.) This survey is in addition to this provides information on the
customers views at individual service Points.
3. Survey Questions
The survey questions are based on customer experience from previous surveys. Question 1
asked customers how often they contacted the Council. This information is important in
developing a Customer Service Strategy, as how often and by which means customers contact
the Council assists in providing the means to meet customer demand.
Question 2 asked the reason for the customer visiting the Service Point. As more and more
services are now available on line, it is important to understand why the customer visited the
service point rather than use the online system or telephone the council Service Centre with
their enquiry. Question 3 and Question 4 are linked together. Question 3 asked the customer
how they had contacted the council previously, and Question4 asked how they would prefer to
contact the council, in future.
Question 5 deals with satisfaction on their visit to the Service Point. This is a straight yes or no
question on whether their visit was satisfactory. Question 6 asks the question about the amount
of time customers had to wait to speak to an adviser and this is followed by Question7 asking
whether the waiting time to see the adviser is satisfactory. The last question asks customers
about their preference for payment options. If they had made a payment in person at the
Service Point, would they use an automated telephone line if one was available rather than visit
a Service Point.
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Q.1 How often do you contact the Highland Council?
The choices the customer had on this question was once a week, once a month or rarely. As can
be seen from the graph the majority of those surveyed, 49%, contact the council at least once a
week. The next highest figure is the customer group contacting the council on a monthly basis at
30%. 82 customers rarely contact the council
Q1. How often do you contact the Council
250
193
200
150
119
82
100
50
0
Once a Week
Once A Month
Rarely
Figure 1
Q.2. Please indicate the reason for your visit:
The main reason for visit to the Service Point is to make a payment. 135 customers or 30% of the
those surveyed gave this as their main reason for the visit. The next highest category is “other”
which is confusing as all other options for the main reasons for visiting the service point are
contained in the question. Some customers indicated they were visiting to enquire about more
than one service which explains the high numbers returned in this question. Some examples
under “other” are purchasing CityLink bus tickets available at some Service Points but this does
not account for the large number registering “other” as the reason for their visit. Further
investigation of these figures is required.
Q2 Reason for Visit
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
135
119
53
37
30
13
12
Figure 2
3
25
24
Q.3. Have you contacted the council using any of the following methods?
This question asked how customers have contacted the council in the past. Phone is the most
popular method with 46% of customers indicating they have contacted the council using this
method. The use of email and letter are on equal parity with 11%. 122 customers declined to
answer this question. At 26% this is a large percentage of customers who declined this question.
There may have been some other reason but in each service point surveyed, some customers did
not answer this question.
Q3. Method used to contact Council previously
250
216
200
150
100
122
56
54
Series1
50
13
6
0
Figure 3
Q.4. What method would you use to contact the Council in future?
This survey was conducted among the smaller and more rural Service Points. Face to face visits to
service points are more common in rural areas other than the use of the telephone. Service Point
staff are well known to the local population and live among them. A visit to a Service Point in
Lochcarron or Gairloch is also a chance to meet friends and converse and catch up. It is weekly visit
to share what is happening in the village – not just a journey to pay rent or council tax. This may
explain why the “face to face” interaction scores so highly at 54% in the question. Again a rather
puzzling 19% decided not to answer this question.
Q4. Preferred method for contacting the Council in future
267
300
250
200
150
97
100
50
42
57
Email
Letter
12
4
0
Text
Face To
Face
Figure 4
4
Phone
No
Answer
Q.5. Did you receive a satisfactory result of you call today?
This is a straightforward “yes” or “no” to the question. It deals with how satisfied the customer is
with how the enquiry was handled. As can be seen from the graph at Figure 5 the majority of
customers at 96% were satisfied with the result of their enquiry.
Q5. How satisfied were you with your visit to Highland
Council
513
Yes
No
No Answer
386
Figure 5
Q.6. How long did you have to wait to see an adviser?
The majority of customers, 71%, were seen within 30 seconds. This is a very good result but it should
be noted in the rural areas and smaller service points, customers very rarely experience extended
waiting times to see an adviser. 23% of customers were seen between 30 – 60 seconds and again
this is good customer service. Only 18 customers or 4% of those surveyed found they had to wait
over a minute to be seen.
It should be noted that the larger Service Point in Wick, Fort William, Inverness and the other large
service points are subject to a separate survey and their waiting times will be longer than the times
reported in this survey.
Q6. How long were the waiting times to see an advisor
350
300
290
250
200
150
94
100
50
18
6
Over 60
Seconds
No Answer
0
Up To 30
Seconds
30-60 Seconds
Figure 6
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Q.7 How would you rate the time you had to wait to see an adviser?
Waiting times are one of the most difficult things to get right. Different customers have different
needs and what is a reasonable waiting time to one person is unreasonable to another. In some of
our larger Service Points a queuing system is in operation. This tells the exact time a customer has to
wait and also how long it takes to deal with an enquiry.
In this latest survey 354 customers or 87% of those surveyed felt the waiting times are very
satisfactory. A further 48 customers or 12% felt the waiting are satisfactory and a further 5
customers declined to answer the question
Q7. How satisfactory are the waiting times
400
300
200
100
0
354
48
0
0
5
Figure 7
Q.8 If you are making a payment today and an automated telephone payment line was available,
would you use it to make payments?
There was one other question that was asked on the questionnaire. The council intends to introduce
an automated payment line and this is a chance to gauge customer reaction to the system. The
automated line would give customers the choice of how to pay their bills or invoices. However
judging by the customer responses, this would not be very popular.
The overwhelming majority of customers 69% would not use the automated payment line. However
17% indicated they would use the line and a further 13% of customers declined to answer the
question.
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Q8. If an automated payment line was available, would
you use this instead of a Service Point for payment?
280
300
250
200
150
100
71
55
50
0
Yes
No
No Answer
Figure 8
Customer Comments
Some customers took the opportunity to make comments on the survey questionnaire. The majority
of the comments are positive and although some very not so positive, all comments are welcome as
it is only by analysing the comments can the service be improved. A selction of comments are listed
below;
“A first class service from first class staff”
“Have always found the service to be excellent”
“The Council should do more with the bus service in Inverness”
“Friendly and helpful staff”
“ Been coming here for ages. Still have not got a house”
Recommendations:
In question 2 some customers indicated they were there for services other than those offered by the
Service Point. This will discussed with staff to determine what these services are and whether better
signposting of services can be offered.
A reminder to staff not to answer the phone when handling customer enquiries at the front deskunless the customer indicates to the member of staff to answer the phone – will be circulated to all
staff. It is not good customer service to leave a face to face customer waiting while the member of
staff deals with a telephone enquiry
As is evident from the other responses to the survey, the vast majority of customers are pleased
with the overall commitment of staff and are satisfied with the customer service they receive.
Highland Council do not control the Bus Operators in Inverness.
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